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F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 17 27 April 1998
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-209-251-7529 [1:1/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Zorch Frezberg 1:205/1701 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> editor@fidonews.org |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
And still it burns...
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 3
3. ARTICLES ................................................. 4
ARCH - Virtual Museum Symposium .......................... 4
4. COLUMNS .................................................. 6
Whale Music for *Cs ...................................... 6
Interim Poll Results ..................................... 8
5. NET HUMOR ................................................ 16
DOS Users Anonymous ...................................... 16
6. ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT ........................ 18
BOB KOHL is an ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE !!!! .............. 18
InterMail 2.50 Released! ................................. 18
7. NOTICES .................................................. 20
Future History ........................................... 20
8. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ...................................... 21
FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing .......................... 21
9. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 22
10. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 24
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 1 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
During the past week, having re-obtained transportation under the new
emissions standards in California, I sought a bit of diversion in a
bit of travel...and I took along the well-worn and dog-eared copy of
Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED to pass the non-travel time.
I'm more and more amazed at the parallels between FidoNet and the
opus of individualistic logic.
What form of government is FidoNet composed of? A democracy?
A democracy is one in which the people function as their own
government...yet many crying for a democracy are the same ones who
are crying about the lack of action by our leaders.
A democracy is one in which people have a set of rules or guidelines
to function under, so no one can trample on the rights of others...
yet many of those crying about the trampling of these rights are the
same who refuse to recognize the Policy which we operate under.
A democracy is one in which all can participate in matters which can
affect them...yet many of those crying about the need to be involved
are not affected in the least by the discussions that they are moving
in upon.
A democracy is one in which a majority of persons involved have the
ability to enforce and cause changes...and yet a small minority of
less than a dozen individuals is claiming that they should control
the future of a region, without a single claim to ability than that
they "have been wronged" by "those in charge".
Not really a claim to ability or a indicator of qualification, no?
If you haven't read ATLAS SHRUGGED, please do so...do not let the
1100+ pages daunt you, as it may change your ideas on what is the
real meaning of being "liberal" or "conservative" truly means...
...as well as who is _really_ "working" for _your_ benefit.
An interesting thing, this week, and I note it here so that no one
can go back and point it out incorrectly.
Doc Logger submitted his LOGGER45.COL this week, after his
LOGGER43.COL last week. I point this out so that no one can accuse
me of having censored or deleted a column. More interesting is the
poll that Doc has submitted...I know that I need not point out to
others that statistics can be made to say whatever one wants;
especially when subjective influences are brought into the mix.
I'm presuming that the poll is LOGGER44.COL.
Also, from last week's submission is the news release on the ARCH
Virtual Museum...an interesting concept that members in Zone 2 may be
better able to take advantage of in person than others.
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 2 27 Apr 1998
Beyond that, the Fido Wars continue...
Has anyone in Zone 2, other than the Regional Coordinators, been
asked about the intention of Ward Dossche when he stated that "Zone 2
would go its own way" since he was not elected as the International
Coordinator?
Just a question.
-zf-
### 30 ###
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 3 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
Subject: fidonet
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 10:43:22 -0400
From: Tees <donaldt@kw.igs.net>
To: "'editor@fidonews.org'" <editor@fidonews.org>
Is there still a fidonet?
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 4 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
ARCH - Virtual Museum Symposium
Definition of the Virtual Museum
Legal Aspects
Technical Parameters and Future Development
Content
Art in the Digital Age
Thursday, May 7, 1998
Dinner at Schloss Leopoldskron
Friday, May 8, 1998
Morning:
opening remarks by Francesca von Habsburg (Austria)
1) Definition of the Virtual Museum
Afternoon:
2) Legal Aspects
Dinner hosted by the mayor of Salzburg
Saturday, May 9, 1998
Morning:
3) Technical Parameters and Future Development
Afternoon:
4) Content
Dinner hosted by the governor of Salzburg
Sunday, May 10, 1998
Morning:
5) Art in the Digital Age
Press Conference
Following the symposium, a press conference will be held,
at which the most important points will be recapitulated
and the results presented.
The symposium is open to the press. For your accreditation
please contact:
Pierre Collet
Executive Director
Verein der Freunde der Stiftung ARCH
Gstuttengasse 29
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 5 27 Apr 1998
A-5020 Salzburg
Austria
Tel: +43 662 84 26 16 29
Fax: +43 662 84 26 15
mobile: +43 664 412 21 02
e-mail: pc@arch.co.at
Francesca von Habsburg,
Founder and Chairman, ARCH (Austria)
Alonzo C. Addison,
Project Director, University of California at Berkeley (US)
Peter A. Bruck,
Managing Director, Techno-Z R&D (Austria)
Graham Defries,
Attorney, Bird & Bird (UK)
Matthew Drutt,
Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (US)
Volker Grassmuck,
Sociologist, Media Researcher (Germany)
John Hanhardt,
Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (US)
Lynn Hershman,
Media Artist and Professor for Electronic Art
at the University of Califonia, Davis (US)
Thomas Krens,
Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (US)
Robbin Murphy,
Artist and Co-founder, artnetweb (US)
Michael Naimark,
Media Artist, Interval Research Corporation, Palo Alto (US)
Hans-Peter Schwarz,
Director, ZKM Media Museum (Germany)
Jeffrey Shaw,
Director, ZKM Institute for Visual Media (Germany)
Charles Simonyi,
Chief Architect, Microsoft Corporation (US)
Peter Weibel,
Media Artist and Curator (Austria)
John Wyver,
Chairman, Illuminations (UK)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 6 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Dear Editorbeing,
This article is submitted by Doc Logger (163/100 or
cherriot@magmacom.com) whose eyes carried that same sort of
glazed look that Dean Rusk had when he was busy bombing the
world for peace & democracy. Logger's confused state had
everything to do with reading hundreds of survey answers...
Roll da flic, Zorch....
Dear Reverend Visage,
Thank you for thoughtfully sending 30,000 cute baby Harp
seals to the offices of Swamp Swine Magazine. I know, I
know...you assured me that it would be a perfect gift for
Bridgit Bardot but do you have any idea what Harp seals eat?
Can you fathom how they smell after processing several tons
of oily fish? The only things that I've experienced which
even come close to the stench were the sugar refineries in
Fiji and the Democratic Convention in '68. I immediately
shipped them off to the Easter Seals campaign and told 'em
that they were really Jerry's kids. Since we seem to be
exchanging gifts, I had several truckloads of sheep manure
delivered to your driveway. Prunella will be so pleased when
she emerges from the garage at full throttle.
I would have attended to your urgent plea for more cash had
I not been devoting my energies to building a Theremin for
my son's excremental rock band. I figure that since the band
has only learned three notes, that they might as well have
an instrument which sounds suspiciously like aborting whales
on Methedrine. The neighbours and the noise by-law
enforcement officers have agreed that the sound exceeds new
thresholds in the sonic insult department. (This probably
explains why women are still throwing goldfish at my bedroom
window late at night.) My son tells me that I am being
unkind by characterizing his music as "Skunk rock" (music
that truly stinks) but at least they don't do any John
Denver covers.
I think I have figured out the entire skill set needed by a
ZC. Apparently, all you have to do is program a function key
so that it quotes a whole message and appends the word
"noted" to the end. Since Bob Satti carefully shepherds the
42 words he writes each week, this leaves ample room to get
really expansive on the larger issues. For example, when he
was asked what qualities or platform did he advance which
gained the support of the other ZCs to elect Satti as the
IC, in a positively verbose display of literary genius he
wrote:"Why don't you ask them?" Hint for Blondes: Yo Bob, I
just asked you. In point of fact I did ask the other ZCs who
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 7 27 Apr 1998
were equally sparing with the text. When asked, one ZC told
me: "because Bob Satti got a majority of votes." Okay so
logic wasn't one of those subjects that kept me awake at
university but answering a question about a platform with a
statement that the election is complete strikes me as a
tadge absurd. I suspect that some of the ZCs aren't playing
with a full set of disciples at the supper table. Our
prayers and our edible underwear should go out to them in
their hour of need.
I think also that the *Cs haven't taken seriously the radish
problem that has been developing in the miscellaneous
elflord echos. As a professional trendmonger, I tend to spot
these things in their larval stages so it is best to get
them lashed down before they larvate into another Netwar.
Did you notice that it is getting hotter on Zorch's planet.
He keeps mentioning the "scorched earth policy" without
elaborating on exactly what he means. I also spotted what
looked like a statement that Ward was so bored that he
played with his business card GIF. Gawd, when his Zorchness
has to do that much deep-sea diving to come up with a new
conspiracy theory then I think it is time he added more
tinfoil to his windows to keep out the Venutian thought
control radio waves. I also noted that last week's Snooz was
full of vulture effluvia from RanD whose reading material
seems to be dedicated to the nodelist. As the good and
decent people that we are, we should send him a copy of
"Bromiliads of the Antarctic Plateau" so that RanD's
fudge-like mind can be improved.
For this week's Chautauqua I'll start with an amusing quote
from the book "The Demonic Comedy" by Paul William Roberts.
Roberts spent time in Iraq working as a correspondent for
Saturday Night Magazine. The exchange quoted here occurred
between Roberts and an Iraqui factotum named Omar:
" 'We have democracy here,' Omar assured me, 'Although
people saying we are not. Why are they saying that?'
'The reason they are saying that, Omar, is because your
president wasn't elected, and you have no official
opposition parties. It may seem a quibble, I know, but we
Westerners are a spoiled lot.'
'Saddam he is *elected*!!' His voice soared into a warbling
treble. 'What is this bull's sheet, not *elected*?'
'Who elected him?'
'Revolutionary Council is electing him.'
'How is the Revolutionary Council elected?'
'Saddam he is personally choosing them,' replied Omar , with
pride.
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 8 27 Apr 1998
'Oh well, sorry then: that sounds pretty democratic to me.'
He grunted satisfaction. 'Yes. People they not understanding
Iraqui way. They too much jealous that we now have the most
advanced nation on earth.' "
Poor Omar. If only he'd known that Fidonet had achieved the
same "democratic" zenith he would have been cowed for sure.
Or perhaps Omar was the consultant hired to create Policy4
because it is hard to imagine the document being written by
anyone with less than his keen grasp of political
philosophy. The fact that the elflords are still hiding
behind the skirts of policy in the face of rather
overwhelming sentiment suggesting a different course of
action is a true monument to the ZC/RCCs. Included in a
separate article in this week's Snooz are the results of a
survey I conducted. If the results are accurate which I
believe them to be, then it is time for the elflords to
clamber down from their respective perches and change the
operating procedures which have dismayed the sysop peasantry
for so long.
One of the grievous omissions in my survey report is that I
forgot to thank all those who took the time to respond. A
thousand thank-yous to you all for helping me cast a little
light into the darkness of the elflords' lair.
I must go, Visage, my son just fired up the Theremin and the
house is surrounded by lawyers in heat. It seems that they
don't believe that simulating the fall of Jericho is an
appropriate activity here in the Pink Flamingo Paradise. The
first vibrant chords of the Theremin at a mere 800 watts
only leveled three city blocks so I don't know what they're
whining about. As the good and decent people that we are, I
suggest that the lawyers be re-trained to become productive
members of society... as sociologists.
Regards,
Doc Logger
Furlang Island,
South Pacific
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Interim Poll Results
Completed surveys are still trickling in but there have been
enough responses to clearly indicate trends. Using
nodelist.100, I processed the list for duplicate phone
numbers which carried the same sysop name. The duplicates
were removed from the list, as were occurrences of the same
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 9 27 Apr 1998
name under different telephone numbers. While this didn't
eliminate all of the duplicates since a number of net
function addresses were identified by title, it did set a
upper maximum number of sysops in Zone 1 at 4,755. Taking
20% of that number, a second list was compiled to select the
951 addresses who would receive the survey.
Each of 342 NCs were automatically put on the survey list,
and an additional 609 sysops were chosen. The selected
sysops were chosen by counting the nodes in each net, taking
20% of that number, and then randomly selecting the
appropriate number of nodes. A minimum of 1 sysop in
addition to the NC was selected from each net. To adjust for
the rounding up that resulted from taking at least one
sysop, the number of surveys sent to net163 was reduced.
Commencing April 12 and ending April 19th, attempts were
made to send the survey to all 951 sysops by crashmail. Part
of the list was sent by Malcolm Campbell (163/307) and the
balance was sent directly from my system. Routed netmail was
not used to send the surveys.
Of those where an attempt was made, 86 nodes could not be
sent the survey either because their line was answered with
a voice, an answering machine, a fax machine, or my system
could not initiate a successful mail session once a
connection was made to a working modem. The survey was
therefore sent to 865 sysops which is 18% of Zone 1. The
survey was also posted in various echos with an open
invitation to submit responses. (Only 4 responses were
generated as a result of posting in echomail conferences.)
As of April 22, 1998 at 3:30pm, I have received 273
responses which represents a return rate of 31% and
represents 5.74% of the nodelisted sysops in Zone 1. (My
goal was to get surveys from at least 5% of the Zone's
sysops.) I feel that the sample was large enough to be
representative and reflective of sysop opinion.
The survey consisted on 12 questions. For a number of the
questions the answers that were tendered were a simple "yes"
or "no" response. For some of the questions, many
respondents wrote at least several sentences and some wrote
a great deal more than that. For example, the text file
where I captured the answers to Question 10 is 165 pages
long! In addition, a number of respondents wrote on other
issues which they felt hadn't been addressed in the survey.
Results: Question 1: From your perspective, what is the
greatest challenge facing Fidonet? (ie. what is broken, what
should be fixed, and how would you fix it?)
A poor leadership 39%
B internet 31%
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 10 27 Apr 1998
C lack of users 15%
D lack of good BBS interface 13%
E nothing wrong 11%
F poor echomail content 5%
G over-regulation 1%
H sysop apathy 1%
I lack of fun 1%
Note: Results total to more than 100% because many sysops
gave multiple reasons.
Of those who expressed a variant of poor leadership,
commentary ranged from:
"Poor to no sysop representation at the higher levels. Too
much administration in a hobby network. Power mongering!"
to
"The greatest challenge facing Fido is that the upper *C
structure thinks they own Fido. Their total disregard for
what grunt sysops want is driving systems away daily."
to
"Get rid of Satti and that ridiculous system of appointing
RCs who then vote for the ZC. Banana republics would be
ashamed of this nonsense."
Of the sysops who cited the Internet, most characterized its
graphics and global accessibility as something which Fido
could not compete. A number of sysops suggested creating a
good GUI for BBS access and widely distributing it.
Conclusion: The natives are restless and would like the
upper *C structure to tune in as opposed to "ruling." The
anecdotal commentary suggested that upper *Cs are viewed as
unresponsive and often capricious, particularly the R10C and
the R11C. On the plus side, good things were said about Ken
Tuley and Jerry Schwartz.
Results: Question 2: Do you read Fidonews?
A: Always 37%
B: Sometimes 34%
C: Often 6%
D: Never 23%
Of those sysops who indicated that they never read Fidonews,
47% said they would read it if they could get it from their
NC/NEC but that it simply wasn't available or distributed in
their net.
Best unintended humour came from a sysop who "never read
Fidonews" but who also suggested that I ought to write an
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 11 27 Apr 1998
article commenting on the behaviour of *Cs.
Conclusion: If Fidonews is the "glue that binds Fidonet
together" then perhaps an attempt should be made to
distribute it to all sysops. Whether sysops read it or not
is a matter of their own choice but Fidonews could certainly
be made more meaningful if the ZC/RCs used it to announce
administrative matters.
Results: Question 3: Were you (or your NC) elected by sysop
level vote?
A: Yes 78%
B: No 20%
C: Don't know 2%
Of the reasons cited by people who answered "no", 76% said
that there was no vote because only one candidate was
willing to take the job.
Conclusion: At the NC level, sysop level voting for NCs is
common place with only parts of Regions 10 & 11 still having
RCs appoint NCs.
Results: Question 3b: Was your RC elected by sysop level
vote? If not, what mechanism was used to select your RC?
A: Sysop level vote 68%
B: Appointed 15%
C: NC level vote 7%
D: Don't know 10%
Conclusion: Sysop level votes are commonplace within Zone1
with Regions 10 & 11 being exceptions.
Results: Question 4: Were you consulted by your NC or RC
with respect to the recent election of a new International
Coordinator?
A: No 89%
B: Yes 11%
Of those who answered "yes", 87% said that they'd read about
the election in either the Z1C or the ZCC-PUBLIC echo, or
read it in a Fidonews column.
Conclusion: The sysops were not consulted, and therefore the
Z1C had no mandate to cast a vote on behalf of Zone 1.
Results: Question 5: If you were not consulted, would you
prefer to have been given the opportunity to do so?
A: Yes 67%
B: No 16%
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 12 27 Apr 1998
C: Not applicable, don't care 17%
Conclusion: The ZC should improve efforts to communicate
with sysops on significant issues.
Results: Question 6: If policy could be amended(or ignored)
would you prefer that NCs, RCs, and ZCs be elected? If so,
would you prefer a sysop level vote? (if you favour
elections and have another suggested mechanism, then please
indicate what it is.)
A: sysop level votes for all *C positions 57%
B: sysops vote for NCs,NCs vote for RCs,RCs vote for ZC 27%
C: current P4 system of appointments 11%
D: don't know, don't care 5%
Conclusions: Taken in context with the answers given in 3 &
3B, sysop votes are already in practice and 84% of sysops
would prefer election procedures for all *Cs.
Results: Question 7: Have you ever filed a policy complaint?
A: No 84%
B: Yes 16%
Of the respondents who answered "yes", 94% were either NCs
or RCs.
Results: Question 8: Have you ever had a policy complaint
filed against you?
A: No 79%
B: Yes 21%
Of the people who answered "no", 67% said that while a
complaint was never filed against them, they were threatened
with one at least once.
Conclusion: Either 21% of the Zone sysops are Fidocriminals,
or policy complaints are being filed for frivolous reasons.
Question 9: Are there issues in Echomail which you feel need
more rules to regulate, control, or illuminate?
A: No 79%
B: Yes, with respect to moderator duties 11%
C: Yes, with respect to other issues 5%
D: No opinion 3%
E: Yes (no elaboration) 2%
Conclusion: It is unlikely that a new Echopol document will
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 13 27 Apr 1998
receive support or ratification by the Zone 1 sysops.
Result: Question 10: The nodelist in Zone 1 is shrinking
because sysops are leaving Fidonet. What is your best guess
about why they are leaving and what could be done to
encourage them to stay?
It was this question which produced the longest and most
thoughtful responses. Almost all respondents cited the
Internet as being a competitive force against which Fidonet
can't compete. The vast publicity that attends the Internet
makes it the first choice of new modem/computer users when
they want to link to a communication network. The existence
of Fidonet is a well-kept secret in most municipalities.
As a matter of historical perspective, in 1990 I surveyed a
wide variety of Region 12 sysops. Using the definition for
an "active user" as someone who had called the BBS more than
50 times, 100% of the BBS systems had over 20 active users.
Some had as many as 800. A similar mini-poll today indicates
that a BBS would be lucky to have 5 active users and more
than half exist with the sysop as the only participant on
the BBS.
One respondent summed up what turned out to be the majority
opinion when he said "Attractiveness of the Internet without
immature and illiterate power-mongers setting policy, making
rules, making irreversible arbitrary decisions..." There is
a deeply felt anger and frustration with the upper *C
structure where it is felt that creative leadership has been
replaced with entrenched non-responsiveness. One respondent
asked "How did we get from Tom Jennings' noble dream to the
likes of Bob Kohl?"
Of those who tendered positive suggestions, the most
frequent suggestion was to develop a GUI for BBS access and
get it widely distributed. Several respondents suggested
bundling a GUI interface with new computers as a result of a
cooperative effort with retailers.
A small minority (of which I count myself a member) believe
that part of the problem is in the intrinsic lack of energy
devoted to writing messages in echomail conferences. One
respondent said "What do you expect when the 'breaker
breaker' CB radio idiots sat in front of a keyboard? A
higher level of communication? Serious conversation? Forget
it."
Recommendations:
To Bob Satti:
1) Encourage the RCs and NCs to re-establish the
distribution of Fidonews so that it is available to leaf
node sysops.
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 14 27 Apr 1998
2) Use Fidonews to disseminate your administrative positions
and to inform the sysops of significant matters.
3) Use the "exception" powers granted to the IC to ask the
other ZCs for their approval to launch a policy change
initiative. Specifically, ask for assent to create
Zone-specific changes to policy with respect to
selection/election of *Cs. Announce your intention to seek
this assent in Fidonews and ask your RCs to collect a
consensus opinion on the issue from sysops in their regions.
4) Whether you obtain assent from the ZCC or not, put to a
sysop vote a selection of choices for the mechanisms by
which *Cs obtain office in Zone 1. Announce the process in
Fidonews along with an anticipated time frame for the
results of the vote to become effective.
To ZC/RCs:
5) Create/appoint/call for volunteers - for a working group
to devise a GUI interface which can be put into the public
domain and freely distributed. (If it weren't for the
efforts of a similar group that created the miscellaneous
early software, Fidonet wouldn't exist.)
6) Step back a pace or two and ask the question: Who do you
serve? Then ask if your present mode of operation is
constructive or destructive. Ask the sysops how you're
doing.
7) Help - not force - the echomail distribution system to
become fully functional. Most of the work has already been
done by the Stars and RECs but at the net level there are
significant logjams.
To NCs:
8) Establish in your net a group of capable people who are
willing to assist sysops to either set up a BBS, or get it
smoothly functioning. One of the foundations that built
Fidonet was the willingness of sysops to help each other.
Some of that tradition has been lost when a sysop who
encounters difficulty receives not an offer of assistance,
but a threat of expulsion.
9) Advise the sysops in your net that if they wish to be
informed about administrative matters, that they ought to at
least glance through Fidonews which you make available for
file request from your system.
10) Repeat as often as is necessary: "I'm a nodelist clerk.
I'm a nodelist clerk" until all thoughts of exercising power
over sysops is gone from your mind.
To moderators:
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 15 27 Apr 1998
11) Common practice grants extraordinary powers to
moderators. Use it judiciously and sparingly. Educate rather
than dictate, illuminate rather than invoke closure, and
create rather than curtail. Look up the word "moderation" in
the dictionary and be guided by what you read there. Perhaps
as a pleasant change, post a set of "echo goals" as opposed
to "echo rules."
To sysops:
12) A lot of people devote a lot of hardware, time and
energy to bringing mail to your modem. Thank 'em every once
in awhile and let them know that you appreciate it. (Thanks
Ken) The Stars, the RECs & NECs make Fidonet happen and most
of them are damned good at it.
13) Ask yourself if communication is the whole point of
Fidonet. If so, consider your actions and decisions based
upon fostering that goal.
To everyone:
14) Fidonet, with or without formal rules relies upon the
goodwill and cooperation of sysops. View with skepticism any
rule which intrudes on that simple premise. Fidonet does not
have to be an organization where common sense, cooperation
and simple justice are brushed aside because a higher value
is put on a policy document.
15) Get rid of the lame macros, the emoticons, the
screenfuls of quoted text, and engage the subjects of your
conversation with pride and energy. The soul of Fidonet is
in the messages you write.
16) And finally, eschew yogurt.
Regards,
Doc
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 16 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================
DOS Users Anonymous
by Mike Riddle, mriddle@monarch.papillon.ne.us
Subject: DOS users anonymous
DOS Users Anonymous 12 Step Program
The heart of the DUA's suggested program of personal recovery is
contained in Twelve Steps describing the experience of the earliest
recovering DOS users:
1. We admitted we were powerless over upgrades - that our computers
had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves
- Microsoft - could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care
of Bill Gates as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless Defrag and Scandisk of our hard
drive.
5. Admitted to Bill Gates to ourselves and to our list server the
exact version of our current operating system.
6. Were entirely ready to have Windows 95 remove all these
accustomed benefits of convenience, reliability, and
productivity.
7. Humbly asked him to remove our current operating system's
simplicity.
8. Made a list of all files (hidden or system) we had accidentally
deleted and became willing to commit to the Window's 95
recycling feature.
9. Made direct payment to Microsoft or its agent wherever possible,
except when to do so would require us to use the MS Network.
10. Continued to struggle with the Win 95 installation program and
when we were finally out of time and patience promptly admitted
it to Microsoft product support.
11. Sought through the Microsoft home page to improve our conscious
contact with Bill Gates as we understood Him, asking only for
knowledge of His will for us and software (conforming to the
Active Accessibility standard) to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to disabled computer users
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 17 27 Apr 1998
everywhere and to use Windows 95 (or higher) applications in all
our computing.
Newcomers are not asked to accept or follow these Twelve Steps in
their entirety if they feel unwilling or unable to do so.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 18 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT
=================================================================
BOB KOHL is an ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ... written
by two U.C.L.A. undergrads!
NOT REALLY. Just kidding.
BUT.... now that I have your attention, why don't
you try some of these fine echos today:
the HOMESCHL echo:
Parent-to-parent support, help, and discussion of
home-based and other alternative education.
the PCBPPL echo:
Discussion and support of Clark Development's
PCBoard Programming Language (PPL).
the AUDIO echo:
Audio, sound, acoustics, techniques, recording, processing,
applications, home stereos, theatres; plus professinal
concert/sound reinforcement, recording and brodcast;
audio's role in the emerging medias, help for equipment
use, selection... Anything AUDIO, that's the echo's name.
All of the above available on the North American Backbone
and distributed by the FidoSpine distribution system.
-- Ronnie L. Grant, 1:3603/140
or ronnie.grant@global.dyn.ml.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
InterMail 2.50 Released!
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT RELEASES INTERMAIL 2.50!
April 20, 1998
1:369/35
(Coconut Creek, Fla.) Further Development, Inc. (FDI), announced
today the release of the long-awaited InterMail v2.50.
When asked why development of the new InterMail has taken so long,
Peter Stewart, FDI President and author of the popular Fidonet-style,
front-end mailer said, "We honestly thought it would only take a few
weeks to complete... Still, we believe we beat out the "other guys"
when compared to their estimates."
Michele Stewart, FDI COO and wife of the author, provided additional
details regarding the company's latest release. "We just won't
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 19 27 Apr 1998
release a product we feel isn't stable or complete," she said.
"A program released on time with major bugs left in is just not our
style. We'd rather wait and provide our customers with a solid,
reliable product." The new release also allows sysops to keep a
demo on their systems which will run for 60 days from install without
having to download a new time-limited demo every month or so as
required in the past.
"As for our existing customers," she added, "we'd really like to
thank them for their patience and loyalty. Such has gone a long way
in keeping us working on the product despite opposition which would
have had us rolling over and giving up long before this." All
customers entitled to disks (i.e., those who paid for shipping in
the past) will receive them shortly. FDI requests that 6-8 weeks be
allowed for receipt since all addresses apparently have to be
manually re-input after a hard drive crash last year wiped out their
database.
Some of the new features include being able to sync your system clock
to Caller-ID or to another mailer, user-defined semaphores, 80 aka's,
a brand new configuration program with extensive hypertext help,
Editor support of several BBS message formats including *.msg,
Hudson, Goldbase, WildCat 4.x, PCBoard 15.x and more. A nodediff
processor is now also included.
Further Development, Inc. can be reached for voice support and orders
at 954-418-9400. The hours are Monday thru Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Eastern. The company's Internet E-mail address is fdi@furtherdev.com
and its Web page is accessible at http://www.furtherdev.com. The
release version can be file requested as INTERMAIL or IMDEMO from
their Mailer at 1:369/35 at 954-418-8110 or downloaded from their FTP
site at ftp://www.furtherdev.com/pub (/demo). The company can also be
reached by writing to: Further Development, Inc., P.O. Box 821864,
South Florida, FL 33082-1864.
InterMail is a trademark of Further Development, Inc. All other
trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 20 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
Future History
30 Apr 1998
Queens Day, Holland.
17 May 1998
Independence Day, Norway.
22 May 1998
Expo '98 World Exposition in Lisbon (Portugal) opens.
14 Sep 1998
Start of International BBS Week [thru 20 Sep 98].
22 Sep 1998
First anniversary of the FidoNews domain of www.fidonews.org.
1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.
24 Jul 1999
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].
31 Dec 1999
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.
1 Jan 2000
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.
1 Jun 2000
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.
15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.
1 Jan 2001
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.
-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 21 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
=================================================================
FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing
[this must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key]
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Democracy Requires A Free And Uncensored Press.
mQENAzUDQfgAAAEH/2cZjrzKxinfyk1NRYy2D78JEU8jFx6fvGyisnN2SX+QwRrA
AxBbsMuseM3x60SFhHV7r93CxKWJylPCBJKvDazmWwy+vgBr+ZJvl7Ypj/IB4pWS
Apngg8cmDH1h5d0VeYNORsuJ2udHZYRezkZ0eeJlaOsJCj5Xu0QImSp++VU/0oB1
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zNaJ+JWNHaLCHlwrRHV+p9bCdfl3u303OxKPne0cSpxfe+gQBTlVta7B14ssgnzQ
mnBFhvKWgM7LT105YD3EcWW9IJE1ByNHwo25a3EABRG0D0ZpZG9OZXdzIEVkaXRv
cokAlQMFEDUKMDDrSgiY3KJNQQEB16YD/2tYVRC+dxghA/OwIWNH20GvQXw1zgfv
cB6r8gYHcczTCqGu5qbjDOTftoBXY9vI3/CZNsSbvp0ibQinpN6zSgyy2+4wwPbu
db/VnjXwBByq7ygTpNwQBMsYjs+iyndwTnR90dH3FewsveBCzeqjmP0Y/PJliElw
zEmGKxoFr1SM
=G82W
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] or download it from
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 anytime Zone 1 ZMH at 300-9600+ V34.
The FidoNews key is also available on the FidoNews homepage listed
in the Masthead information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 22 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================
This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the Editor as
of this appearance.
NOTE: I am looking for a comprehensive list of Telnet, VMODEM, BinkP,
Argus and other TCP/IP based nodes operating FidoNet on the
InterNet, either by Zone or worldwide, to post here as well.
- Ye Editor
============
FidoNet:
Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
FTSC page http://www.goldware.dk/ftsc
Echomail http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/index.html
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN]
General Info http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
============
Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org
Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html
Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
Region 13: http://www.smalltalkband.com/st01000.htm
Region 14:
Region 15:
Region 16: http://www.tiac.net/users/satins/region16.htm
Region 17: http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/region17.htm
REC17: http://www.westsound.com/ptmudge/
Region 18: http://techstop.pdn.net/fido/
Region 19: http://www.compconn.net
============
Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org
ZEC2:
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/z2_elist/
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 23 27 Apr 1998
Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)
Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (in German)
Region 25:
http://www.trak-one.co.uk/net254
Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (in French)
Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (in Swiss?)
Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (in Italian)
Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (in Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr
Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/
Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html
Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (in Greek and English)
Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl
============
Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org
============
Zone 4: (not yet listed)
Region 90:
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (in Spanish)
============
Zone 5: http://w3.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm
============
Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (China)
============
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 24 27 Apr 1998
=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------
Editor: Zorch Frezberg
Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker
"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS 1-209-251-7529, 300/1200/2400/9600/V.34/V.90
more addresses:
Zorch Frezberg -- 1:205/1701, zorch@repairnet.com
zorch@fidonews.org
zorch@qnis.net
zorch@eiv.com
zorch@kumr.lns.com
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 642
Fresno, CA 93709-0642
U.S.A.
voice: 1-209-446-9038 [voice mail = 'blind' numbers not returned]
------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1998 Zorch Frezberg. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
the Editor.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 25 27 Apr 1998
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSFnn.ZIP] for a
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.
Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:
http://www.fidonews.org
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
*=*=*
You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:
jbarchuk@worldnet.att.net
with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist
and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the email
distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist with no
message to the same address above.
*
You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
by sending email to:
ftpmail@fidonews.org
with a Subject line of: help
and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
www.fidonews.org.
*=*=*
You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:
http://www.fidonews.org
STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:
ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
FIDONEWS 15-17 Page 26 27 Apr 1998
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.
=*=*=*=
The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
available almost immediately after publication on the FidoNews Editor
homepage on the World Wide Web at:
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html
There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an email
link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
1:1/23 [1:205/1701] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area X. It
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.
*=*=*=*=*
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone
Coordinators also have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
and are used with permission.
"Disagreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or something to amuse ourselves
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings
### -30- ###
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